Thursday, March 16, 2017

Investigators look into claims of Bigfoot activity in Pine Orchard

Georgiana native Paul Herring

Reports of Bigfoot-like creatures in and around Conecuh
County have garnered a lot of attention lately, and they recently attracted a
group of investigators who spent the night looking for Bigfoot in the Pine
Orchard.

Many in the reading audience will remember that numerous
reports of Bigfoot-like creatures have originated out of Pine Orchard, a small
community that sits on the Conecuh-Monroe County line, northwest of Evergreen. Those
claims have been investigated by members of the Southwest Alabama Bigfoot
Hunters and members of the cast of the TV show, “Killing Bigfoot.”

These reports also attracted the attention of a four-man group
of investigators, led by Georgiana native Paul Herring, who currently works as a
private investigator in Nashville, Tenn. Herring’s group visited Pine Orchard on
Sat., March 4, with the intent to thoroughly investigate Bigfoot claims in that
area. They arrived around 10 a.m. and camped in the heart of a swamp, Herring
said. Herring and his group, who are all experienced law enforcement officers,
picked the swampy area, knowing that any large animal would need a reliable
water source in order to survive.

The group conducted lengthy hikes through the area, looking
for tracks, tree scrapes, tree structures, skat and anything else out of the
ordinary that could indicate the presence of a Bigfoot-like creature. The group
also set up trail cameras, conducted “call blasts” of recorded wounded animal
sounds and even did their own “whoops” and tree knocks, Herring said. They also
frequently scanned the area with high-tech night vision equipment until around
2:30 a.m.

Despite their best efforts to find the creature, the group
experienced a very quiet night except for one “possible” tree knock that the
group heard around 8:30 p.m. Herring noted that the night was almost too quiet
without even the sound of an occasional coyote, which members of the group
thought was extremely odd. Members of the group figure that if there was a
Bigfoot in the Pine Orchard area it has either moved on or just wasn’t active
on that particular night.

Herring, who worked as a police officer in
North Alabama for about 15 years, said that the group is considering another
trip to the Pine Orchard area in the near future. If not, they may instead
investigate the Sepulga River, another hotspot for local Bigfoot reports. Herring
noted that his group has investigated a wide variety of unusual phenomenon,
including Bigfoot reports, UFOs and paranormal claims of ghosts and haunted
locations. The other members of his group that visited Pine Orchard recently
asked not to be identified by name because they are active police officers
involved in undercover narcotics work, Herring said.

“We want to believe, but we also try to
approach every case skeptically until we are left with evidence that is
unexplained,” Herring said. “That is why we generally hope to get into an area
unnoticed to avoid onlookers, the tampering of evidence or the possible hoaxer.
To me, it’s just like a crime scene that should not be tampered with.”

In the end, if anyone in the reading
audience thinks they’ve seen a Bigfoot or any other unusual creature in the
woods, please contact Lee Peacock at The Evergreen Courant at 578-1492 or by
e-mail at courantsports@earthlink.net.